Superfast broadband is coming to Milngavie and Bearsden

Laura Sturrock

More than 2,700 homes and businesses in Bearsden and Milngavie are now able to connect to fibre broadband, with more to follow, thanks to the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme.

To help local people find out more about the benefits of the high-speed service, a special drop-in event will be held at Milngavie’s Shopping Precinct, by the War Memorial, between 10am and 4pm on Monday, December 7.

The £410 million Digital Scotland partnership is delivering high-speed fibre broadband services to many communities not included in commercial upgrade plans. Funders include the Scottish and UK Governments, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, BT, local authorities and the European Regional Development Fund.

Alongside commercial upgrades, it will provide access to fibre broadband to around 95 per cent of Scottish premises by the end of March 2018, underpinning the Scottish Government’s aim of delivering world class connectivity by 2020.

The latest premises are among more than 475,000 across Scotland which can now access fibre broadband services at speeds of up to 80Mbps* as part of the Digital Scotland rollout. They join more than 7,900 homes and businesses in East Dunbartonshire now able to access fibre broadband through the project.

Other areas where fibre has gone live thanks to the programme include Bishopbriggs, Lennoxtown and Kirkintilloch – the latter building on local commercial coverage. More areas are planned in the coming months as engineers from BT’s local network business Openreach continue work on the ground.

Sara Budge, programme director for Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband, said: “The difference a high-speed connection can make is amazing, giving much more flexibility at work or in the home. I hope that local residents will come along to the event in Milngavie’s to get an understanding of the boost they can expect from a fast fibre broadband connection when they sign up with a service provider.”

Local people can check the interactive map on the Digital Scotland website (www.digitalscotland.org/whereandwhen) to find out if they can get the service and further information is also available on Twitter @ScotSuperfast or Facebook atwww.facebook.com/scotlandsuperfast